This United State

by Colin Forbes

  'Why are we going so slowly?' Butler called out from the back.

  'So we can see if they have turned off,' Marler told him.

  He had his lights on full beam, so he could look as far ahead as possible. Glancing up, he detected enormous snow-covered boulders poised high above them. Not a sight he welcomed. He checked his screen. The red light, which was Ronstadt's car, was fainter, telling him the American had increased his speed considerably. Why?

  He leaned forward, staring at the precipitous slope to his left. Could he be wrong? He drove on, still staring hard. Then he saw it wasn't his imagination. Ahead, climbing up the slope to his left, he made out the double tracks of a car's wheels, deep ruts in the otherwise virgin snow. He increased his speed.

  'Hold on to your seat belts. We're going up that slope. That's where they are. Lord knows how high above us.'

  Butler held his breath as Marler swung the car at speed — skidding as his rear wheels swung round. He rammed his foot down and began climbing what turned out to be a curving gulley with high banks of snow on either side. The snow tyres gripped the hard-frozen ground as he plunged higher still.

  Perched on the heights way above where the gulley left the highway, Brad, squat and ugly, but powerful, had earlier watched the highway far below through his night glasses. He had seen Ronstadt's convoy of three black Audis pass, heading deeper into the Höllental. Brad was in charge of the unit of four men, given the task of destroying Tweed and his team.

  'Dan,' he called out to a big man with a down-curving moustache, 'you've got an automatic rifle. Climb that tall tree over there. Do it now - before the bastards arrive.'

  'Buster,' he shouted to a fat man with a face like a slab of stone, 'you've got your machine-pistol. Get down behind that 'boulder so's you can cover the exit from the gulley. Just in case.'

  'And you, Bruce, he shouted again, 'you got your boulder ready to go down with mine?'

  Bruce, heavily built with a scarred forehead, like Brad stood at the edge of the ridge with a steep rolling slope below, but further along. He held a crowbar he'd used to lever the rock loose. Now he only had to heave on the crowbar inserted under it to send it down at murderous speed onto the highway.

  Brad was standing behind an enormous snow-covered boulder. It had taken all his considerable strength to lever it out so now it was poised on the brink. He stood with his crowbar shoved well underneath it. Like Bruce, he had only to exert enough pressure to send it flying into space. He called out again to Bruce.

  'T'ain't just the boulders which will kill Tweed's cars and everyone inside them. When the boulders go down they'll start an avalanche. Slope below us is unstable...'

  When Marler suddenly swung off the highway up the gulley at speed he had no way of knowing he had averted - at least temporarily - their doom.

  About to lever the boulders, Brad was taken by surprise at Marler's unexpected and swift manoeuvre. Earlier he had used his glasses to check who was in Marler's car. No sign of the girl Ronstadt had described to him, no sign of Tweed, also described to him. He decided to take the car out anyway - until the last second.

  'Bruce!' he screamed. 'Not yet! They're in the gulley, comin' up.' He switched his attention to the man with the machine-pistol behind a boulder. 'Buster! They's drivin' up the gulley. Blast the car to hell soon as it appears...'

  Marler was making steady progress, swinging the wheel quickly as one curve succeeded another and blotted out any view of the top. The snow tyres saved him, kept the car moving up and up and up. It was still deep in the gulley with the high snow-covered banks on both sides.

  'Damned gulley goes on for ever,' Butler called out.

  'It has to end somewhere,' Marler called back.

  He had just spoken when the car swung round another curve and he saw, beyond a very steep stretch of track, moonlight glowing at the top.

  On the highway Newman, worried that the red circle on the screen which was Ronstadt's car was fading, had accelerated. He was now moving at speed as Paula looked up at the steep slope on her left. High up along the rim in the near distance she saw boulders perched - boulders which had been there probably since prehistoric times.

  'We're catching up with Ronstadt,' Newman told them. 'The red light is stronger. Can't see any sign of Marler's rear lights. Don't understand that.'

  'Just keep moving,' Tweed urged.

  'What do you think I'm doing!'

  Near the top of the gulley Marler braked at the foot of the last steep stretch. He left the engine running. No profit in finding themselves without transport out here in the middle of nowhere. His mind was racing as he Inside their Audi, Paula saw the massive boulder roaring down. She calculated it would hit the highway just ahead of them — or hit them.

  'Brake!' she screamed.

  Newman reacted, not knowing why. He brought the car to an emergency stop. In the back Tweed and Kent had braced themselves but they were, thrown forward against their seat belts, which saved them. The boulder hit the highway, bounced, seemed to pass across their windscreen. It continued its passage of tremendous velocity across the highway, dived down into a gulch, clear of the other lane.

  'Thank you,' said Newman.

  'Any time,' said Paula.

  He began moving forward at speed. Paula peered out of the window again, gasped. Ahead of them another huge boulder was starting to come down. For a moment she was stupefied, unable to speak. Then she screamed again.

  'Speed! As fast as you can!'

  Newman pressed his foot through the floor. The Audi took off as though flying, sending up bursts of powdered snow. Paula, hands clammy, gripped together, watched the projectile coming. She also saw that the whole slope now was on the move, a tidal wave of snow and rock descending. The second boulder had triggered an avalanche. She prayed, which she rarely did. Newman was fighting to keep the car on the road.

  Looking back, she saw the boulder hit the highway behind them. Like its predecessor, it bounced, then tore across the other-lane and disappeared. The avalanche had now landed on their lane of the highway, quietened down suddenly, leaving the lane in the opposite direction comparatively clear.

  'You'd better take over the bloody wheel,' Newman told Paula amiably.

  'We must be getting close to Ronstadt,' Tweed's calm voice called out. 'The red light is very strong now…'

  Bruce, the man with the scarred forehead, had levered down the second boulder and immediately snatched a pistol from his belt. He had heard Butler's three shots. He could see no sign of Brad, but he could see two men crouched in the snow on his side of the gulley. He raised the pistol, gripped it in both hands. There was another shot. Marler had had the cross-hairs of his Armalite aimed, had fired. A red disc appeared on his forehead in the middle of the scar. He stood quite still for a moment, his arms falling, letting go of the pistol, then he fell over backwards, staring sightlessly at the moonlit sky.

  'Be careful,' Marler warned. 'There are two more of them somewhere.'

  'I thought I saw movement in the forest. I'm going to fan out,' Nield replied in a whisper.

  'Good idea.'

  Marler began crawling along a dip in the ground towards where the gulley they had driven up ended. Nield moved in a different direction, crouching low and running in spurts from boulder to boulder. He'd noticed one of the tall trees had dropped some snow. Why this tree?

  In a roundabout way he approached closer, went into the forest. The particular tree which had caught his attention had a thick trunk with small lower branches which provided a natural ladder for anyone who wanted to climb high. He found his own tree trunk, not too close, not too far away from the tree attracting his curiosity. He saw Marler beginning to get exposed in the open. Three huge clots of snow fell from the tall tree.

  Now he was sure, and with Marler in the open he had to act at once. He studied the tree, took a grenade from his pocket, lobbed it about fifteen feet up through a gap in the snow-covered foliage. The grenade detonated, Nield thought he heard a muffled
scream. Then the body fell, Dan catapulting from branch to branch until he hit the ground and lay still. His rifle came down a second later.

  At almost the same moment Buster stood up from behind his large boulder, swivelling his weapon for a quick burst. Marler shot him twice. Buster sagged to the snow, on top of his gun.

  'That's four of them,' Nield called out. 'I've found their car.'

  'Lose it,' Marler ordered.

  'Both of you get down into the gulley near our car, then.'

  Nield had found the car easily. He had simply followed the twin tracks of wheel marks in the snow. Ronstadt's thugs had parked it out of sight behind a large copse of frosted shrubbery. Above it loomed a large tree.

  Nield found a deep dip in the ground behind one of the boulders strewn everywhere. He stood in the dip, took out a grenade, lobbed it carefully so it would land under the car's petrol tank and dropped behind the boulder. He heard the grenade detonate.. Then there was a roar. The petrol tank had blown. A spectacular shaft of flames soared up. Snow on the tree melted instantly. He peered over the boulder. The black Audi was a total wreck, looked as though it had been through a car crusher. He walked down the gulley and Marler was behind the wheel of the white Audi with Butler in the back. Nield sat again in the front passenger seat and Marler revved up to take it to the top, turn it round and drive back down the gulley.

  'Funny,' Butler said, 'we could all be dead by now.'

  'Not really,' Marler replied, 'not when the Americans are such amateurs when it comes to tactics.'

  39

  'We're in danger of losing Marler, Newman warned, 'moving at this speed.'

  'We'll have to risk that,' Tweed replied from the back of the car. 'The man we mustn't lose is Ronstadt. If the Americans are planning what I suspect they are, then they'll win. Britain will be plunged into turmoil - from which it may not recover.'

  'There are four of us, eleven of them,' Newman persisted. 'The odds are lethal.'

  'Keep going,' Tweed ordered. 'What I can't understand is that we've passed the Höllental. The base has to be somewhere else. Kurt Schwarz missed something. At least, I think he did.' He took out the little black notebook they had found behind the loose brick when Irina had been rescued in Basel. 'Paula, let me borrow your torch.'

  'What's worrying you?' she asked.

  'Kurt wrote down H011ental on one page, then that was followed by a blank page. I don't understand it.'

  'The explanation could be very simple,' said Paula, handing him her torch. 'I've done it myself. Turned over two pages without realizing it, leaving one page blank.'

  'I hope you're right. Let me check what's on the following page. I see. Just one word. Schluchsee. Sounds like a lake.'

  'Give me back my torch. I want to check the map.'

  She studied the map, looked quickly at the screen with the red light showing Ronstadt's convoy ahead of them. She watched the light for a few minutes. Then she spoke rapidly.

  'We were moving south-east through the Höllental. Now we're heading east towards Titisee, which has a smaller lake and is a famous resort. But soon there's a big junction which turns us south-west and soon runs alongside Lake Titisee

  'Which we don't want,' Tweed protested.

  'If you'd just let me finish; Paula snapped. 'There is a Schluchsee, a much bigger lake, and it looks remote. After passing Lake Titisee we come to another junction on the way to Feldberg.'

  'Highest point in the Black Forest,' said Tweed. 'About four thousand five hundred feet high. Sorry,' he concluded.

  'I can do without any more interruptions until I've finished. At the junction we turn left and then we're heading due south-east - straight for Schluchsee.'

  'If the blue light on Marler's screen which is us vanishes, he will never follow such a complicated route,' Newman objected.

  'We'll have to take that risk,' Tweed repeated.

  'I don't like it. I should slow down, give Marler time to catch up with us,' Newman insisted.

  'I'm not going to keep giving the same order,' Tweed told him. 'Your job is to keep Ronstadt in sight. That's a direct order.'

  'Might be a good idea if we all calmed down a bit,' Keith Kent suggested.

  'You're right,' Tweed agreed. 'Tension will get us nowhere.'

  'So,' said Paula, 'let's all relax - including you, Tweed.'

  'We're losing Tweed,' said Marler, driving his Audi at speed. 'The blue light is fading. We'll just have to go faster.'

  And end up going off the road,' Nield warned.

  'I don't think so,' Marler drawled. 'I used to be a racing driver.'

  'But this isn't Le Mans,' Nield remarked as Marler accelerated even more. 'Strange that we've left the Höllental behind. I thought that's where their base was. And you're not flying a plane, Marler.'

  'And there could be ice under this snow,' called out Butler, which was the first time Nield could recall him ever showing nervousness.

  'I'm not going to let Tweed down,' Marler informed them. 'Did you,' he began, changing the subject, 'notice that amazing complex of buildings in the Höllental - the Hofgut Sternen?'

  'Wouldn't have minded stopping there for a bite to eat,' Butler remarked. 'Place was enormous and a blaze of lights.'

  'I was surprised to see a number of parked cars,' Nield replied. 'And I caught sight of people eating in a pretty good-looking restaurant.'

  'Germans,' Marler said, 'coming from not too far away. The cars had skis attached to their roofs. A few hoping to take advantage of the falls of snow.'

  There was silence for a while. Marler refused to moderate his speed. To their left a dense forest of firs stretched endlessly up a slope. Still no other traffic on the road. Thank heavens for small mercies, Nield thought.

  'Tweed's blue light is growing stronger,' Marler said suddenly. 'We're catching him up. Half a mo' - he's changed direction. He's going due south-west now.'

  'We're coining up to a junction,' Nield told him.

  Like Paula, he had a map open on his lap. He had been studying it with a small torch. He stared fixedly ahead for signs of a turn.

  'Newman's now heading for the Feldberg,' he announced. 'That is the highest point in the whole of the Black Forest.'

  'Deeper snow up there,' Butler commented, half to himself.

  'Slow down, for God's sake,' Nield pleaded.

  Marler, content now that he was much closer to the other Audi, reduced his breakneck pace. Nield leaned forward even more, stretching his seat belt.

  'Turn here. We're on our way to Titisee.'

  Marler obeyed his instructions. He pressed his foot down again. A short while later on their right they had glimpses of Lake Titisee, gleaming in the moonlight and utterly deserted. Close to the far shore Nield caught sight of colonies of holiday cabins. Marler checked the blue light again.

  'Now Newman's turned due south-east,' he remarked.

  'He's not heading for the Feldberg,' Nield reported after checking his map. 'There's another junction ahead. He appears to be heading instead for a big lake, Schluchsee. I wonder why?'

  'Still no sign of Marler,' Newman commented to Paula. 'The red light which is Ronstadt flashed once,' she warned. 'So we must be closing on him.'

  'Drop back a bit, then, Tweed ordered. 'But don't lose him.'

  'I've got it - do two things at once,' Newman cracked back at him.

  But he did slow down. Everyone in the car noticed that now they had begun to descend and kept on doing so. Paula checked her map again.

  'Soon the road zigzags a lot,' she warned.

  'Well, I have slowed down,' Newman reassured her. 'Good job you did.'

  As she spoke Newman was guiding the car round a steep bend and then immediately afterwards he was swinging round another. By his side Paula was staring through the windscreen, hoping to catch sight of the mysterious lake. The atmosphere inside the car was now far more relaxed, Tweed was thinking. Which he welcomed. Lord knew what was facing them ahead, if they were able to track Ronstadt'to his base. />
  'I can see something now.'

  As Paula spoke Newman stopped the car. The red light on his screen was flashing madly. He had almost overtaken Ronstadt's convoy. Paula raised a small pair of high-powered night binoculars she'd had looped round her neck. She thought she had never seen anywhere so lonely and forbidding.

  They were still high up and she was looking down on a small section of the long lake way below. She felt she might have been in a remote region of Canada. The moon kept fading as transparent drifts of cloud crossed beneath it. The lake was still as death and black as pitch. Its surface was so unruffled it gave her the impression it was covered with ice. The opposite shore was banked by steep hills choked with fir forest.

  'See anything?' Tweed asked.

  'Nothing. No sign of life, of human habitation. Just nothing.'

  'Very promising.'

  'Marler has caught us up,' Newman called out, unable to conceal his relief.

  'I'm getting out of the car for a closer look,' said Paula.

  She had got out, closed the door quietly, when she found Marler standing beside her. A few yards behind Newman's Audi, Marler's was parked, lights dimmed, as were Newman's.

  'Well, I gather Ronstadt's base wasn't in the Höllental,' Marler remarked.

  'No, it wasn't,' Paula replied. 'Tweed has an idea it has to be somewhere near here. That weird lake down there is called Schluchsee.'

  'Tweed is sure the base is in this area,' Tweed called out through a window he had lowered. 'Kurt Schwarz has a reference to this place in his little book. I missed the significance of the name - a blank page followed his note on the Höllental.'

  'Let's get closer,' Paula suggested to Marler. 'I think there's a track beyond the verge.'

  Newman had switched off his engine. They had been so close to Ronstadt he'd felt it was a wise precaution. The enemy could have had the same idea and switched off their engines to listen. Walking a few paces along the track, Paula was struck by the incredible silence which added to the sinister atmosphere of this place out in the wilds. She sensed they were waiting for something terrible to happen.